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Man Pleads Not Guilty To Stabbing, Killing Man Over Cigarette

A Redwood City man pleaded not guilty Thursday to allegations he stabbed and killed a man during a broadcast of a Giants World Series game after the two argued over a cigarette, San Mateo County prosecutors said today.

Police responded to Courthouse Square in Redwood City on Oct. 28 at 8:25 p.m., according to prosecutors at the San Mateo County District Attorney's office. Officers found 32-year-old Michael Stent with multiple stab wounds to his back and abdomen.

Stent was transported to Stanford Hospital, where he died several hours later during surgery, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said Stent and Jake Scott Monahan, 24, had been listening to the Giants World Series game at Courthouse Square when Monahan asked Stent for a cigarette.

Stent reportedly declined, and the two started fighting and throwing things at each other, prosecutors said. Monahan was reportedly winning the fight, and Stent walked away.

Prosecutors said Monahan went to his backpack and retrieved a folding knife and then stabbed Stent multiple times. Monahan ran away from the area and someone called police.

Police found Monahan several blocks away on Brewster Street with a cut on his arm and a folding knife in his sweatshirt pocket.

Prosecutors charged Monahan with murder and using a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

Monahan's case was heard in the San Mateo County Superior Court on Thursday before Judge Stephanie Garratt. It was continued to Dec. 2 at 2 p.m. to set a preliminary hearing date, prosecutors said.

The Deputy District Attorney prosecuting the case is Aaron Fitzgerald, and public defender David Franklin is representing Monahan.